.diets and health.

So, here is the thing. I love to eat. I love good food. I love comfort food even though I usually feel bad, stuffed and gross after eating it. I also admit that I have tried many different diets throughout my life and changed them up; especially in my 20s but these days I am more into a holistic approach to food and life which makes the most sense to me. Whenever something new came out like raw food, paleo, vegan, gluten-free and whatnot, I gave it a try and pretty quickly realized that this is not “it” either. I don’t want my diet to tell me what I can or cannot eat on a daily basis. When I really listen to my body, I know what I need. I also don’t think that my overall well-being improves if I just eat vegan for one week and then go back to piling up my plate with meat.

I read an article in The New Yorker recently that a woman tried to live on the “baby-food diet”. Not kidding! This is “a thing”. Other live by eating carrots only with the negative side effect that their skin turns orange. Sometimes when I dieted, the reason was weight loss and I thought that working out like crazy and eating two apples a day will turn me into a new person. Well, it did. I felt miserable and hungry. I thought about all these diets I have been through in my life and will highlight the best, most effective ones for me here while I keep experimenting with my overall health.

I had been diagnosed with gallstones last autumn and did a juice/gallbladder cleanse on my own which I DO NOT recommend because it is VERY painful. I should have contacted someone who knows more about how to get rid of gallstones naturally. The doctors, however, told me instantly to get the gallbladder removed since it is “useless and the body does not need it”. In any case, I kinda like my gallbladder and what it does, so no removal. I got rid of all three gallstones by drinking freshly squeezed green juice only for about three weeks. It was not easy but I did it. The hunger is initially insane but stops after three days and then it just felt good before I felt really bad again when my body got rid of the gallstones. For more details on how I did it and what books I read, email me.

At some point in my life, I thought, the Paleo Diet is the thing but I did not last longer than one week. The initial concept is okay; to detox from sugar but I just cannot eat meat in some form every single day or every other day. My son and I eat meat maybe once a week in form of chicken or chicken stock in a soup. I had a crazy amount of energy which was awesome; I blame the tons of veggies for that rather than the meat. The diet is also pretty expensive. All the meat…and I like pasta, so I quit.

The diet that stuck with me for the longest is probably veganism, yet I do not practice it 100% either. I don’t eat soy products simply because I don’t like the taste of it. Soy products made me feel the worst physically. I tried all types of tofu in all sort of variations but c’mon: SOY CHICKEN or Cashew Cheese? How can I use this in a French Onion Soup? Right! Not at all. Vegan Chicken Wings? Buffalo Cauliflower? Zucchini pasta is okay but not always. On the socially fancy side, this diet is great. I went out, flipped my hair and asked for a “soy latte” or if they have “alternatives and vegan options”. [So annoying, I know.] This diet is not cheap either.

I tried Gluten-free. Fuck it. Nothing needs to be added here.

So this is what I am sticking with: Intermittent Fasting. How I apply it to myself is that I just don’t eat for about 16 hours straight three times a week. The awesome thing is, that I can enjoy my French Onion Soup or the occasional muffin and chocolate. I just give my organs rest and this feels so good. I usually eat supper at around 6 pm and then nothing anymore for 16 hours. Breakfast at around 10 am doesn’t sound so too bad, does it? And be aware, I don’t do this every single day. By practicing this diet overnight, I don’t run around like a sad, weak, hungry version of myself and I can still enjoy all this good food that is out there. We only live once, right? And, honestly, whenever I have two or three slices of pizza for supper, I am not hungry at all the next morning so I skip breakfast and have something later.

Food for thought: Overall, I learned that no diet changed my life so far and I love to eat and enjoy trying new things. I realized that a good night’s sleep combined with the intermitted fasting makes me feel good on a daily basis. I also love and want wine and Camembert. And dark chocolate.